The irony continues—the poorest Filipinos had to pay more for less. Data released by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) showed that the poorest 30 percent of the Philippine population saw the prices of the goods they buy rising at an average rate of 6 percent in 2014, way faster than the 4.1-percent inflation posted last year.
According to the PSA data, the inflation experienced by the bottom 30 percent of the population in 2014 was the highest since 2008, when the average rate in the price adjustments was at
13.9 percent.
The inflation rate for the bottom 30-percent income households in 2013 was at 3.7 percent. The lowest inflation rate for this household group since 2008 was recorded in 2012, at 2.9 percent.
The poor spend more than 50 percent of their income for food
products, which are among the items that saw the fastest rates of price hikes in the basket of goods gauged in the Consumer Price Index.
In the fourth quarter of 2014, the impact of the decline in global oil prices kicked in, with inflation averaging 5.1 percent.
This was higher than the 4.8 percent posted in the last quarter of 2013 and the lowest since 2011’s 5.2 percent. But the fourth-quarter inflation for the poorest 30 percent of households represented a slowdown from the 6.8 percent posted in the third quarter of 2014.
The PSA said prices of items for consumers belonging to the bottom 30-percent income households were generally stable compared to the 1.9-percent growth in the previous quarter, as exhibited by its quarter-to-quarter change of zero percent.
“Rollbacks in the prices of gasoline, diesel, kerosene and LPG [liquefied petroleum gas] all over the country and lower charges in the electricity rates were noted in many regions during the quarter. Declines in the prices of food items in the NCR [National Capital Region] such as fruits, vegetables, chicken, pork, crabs and shrimps, were also observed,” the PSA said.
One of the main reasons for the uptick in the average inflation rate for bottom 30-percent households was the higher cost of food, which accounts for over 50 percent of their household expenses.
The PSA said the 2014 annual average growth of the food alone index at the national level went up to 7.5 percent. It was reported at 3.4 percent in 2013.
In the fourth quarter, the average year-on-year increase in the food alone index was at 6.8 percent. This was lower than the third-quarter average annual inflation of 8.7 percent.
Meanwhile, the poorest 30 percent of households living in the NCR saw inflation reach 5.3 percent in 2014, from 2.2 percent in 2013.
In the fourth quarter, inflation slowed to 3.6 percent in 2014 compared to 6.8 percent in the third quarter of 2014. However, this was higher than the 3.5 percent posted in the fourth quarter of 2013.
“Slowdowns in the annual increments in the heavily weighted FBT [Food, Beverage and Tobacco] and services also contributed to the downtrend,” the PSA said.
Members of the bottom 30 percent of income households in Areas Outside the National Capital Region (AONCR) saw inflation climb to 6 percent in 2014, from 3.7 percent in 2013.
In the fourth quarter, inflation for the poorest Filipinos living in AONCR slowed to 5.1 percent in the October-to-December period in 2014 from 6.8 percent in the third quarter of 2014. However, this inflation rate was still higher than the 4.8 percent posted in the fourth quarter of 2013.
“This was mainly brought about by the negative annual adjustment in the FLW Fuel, Light and Water] index. Moreover, the rest of the commodity groups, except the clothing index, had lower rates during the quarter,” the PSA said.
The PSA said the first and second survey reports for the bottom 30-percent income households from Basilan for October, November and December 2014 were not received as of January 28, 2015.